Contest organizers have declared a no-go for Wednesday 7 March for the start of the 2012 Quiksilver Goodwave invitational surfing event but the “heads up” status remains with a possibility of the event taking place over the weekend. The thirty-two invited surfers and alternates have been given notice that the event will not be running on Wednesday due to a change in predicted winds. The Quiksilver Goodwave event utilizes a 6-month window period to select the single best day of surfing on the Durban beachfront.

“All of the elements were looking great twenty-four hours ago but with this cyclone being so unpredictable the forecast has rapidly changed showing onshore winds in the morning which are never ideal for an event of this nature,” said Dane Patterson of Quiksilver South Africa.

The “heads up” status remains which means that the Goodwave event organisers will be assessing the conditions over the next few days in the hopes that the swell, winds and tides can all come into line and create the perfect day of surf. The abundance of swell generated by cyclone Irina has caused surfers and event officials to pay attention and as Irina regenerates, and moves southwards there is still a strong possibility of running the event this week.

Daniel Redman, two-time finalist of this unique event, remains optimistic about the Goodwave going ahead, he said, “The waves have been good, but not quite up to Goodwave standard, there have been patches of brilliance but it is not consistent enough to be able to run the event all day. There seems to be plenty of swell around so we are all hoping that the winds play ball over the next few days.”

The weather sites will be monitored every morning and should it look favourable to run the event, a twenty-four standby call will be made, allowing the out-of-town invitees just a short amount of time to get to Durban.